DRAMA CLUB: I Hear Your Voice Episodes 15-16 (3/4)

Hey, this is Jhon. Remember to check out the blogs of the I Hear Your Voice Drama Club! This is JuneMarie’s. This is dapowerz’ blog. This is mine.
These last couple of episodes have focused on Do Yeon and Hwang Dal Joong’s trial and its aftermath. In my last post, I basically said that I didn’t really find this important and didn’t see why it merited my attention. I know that Lee Da Hee is a good actress and they have to give her things to do but, I don’t know, couldn’t they have done that all throughout the series? All her character development has been pretty much contained to these last few episodes. I did think it odd that they’d waste an actress of Lee’s caliber by simply making her Hye Sung’s always-losing foil. If her personality and weaknesses had been explored throughout the series more effectively, then this batch of revelations and crying scenes would have more impact.
However, since these scenes are given so much time then it follows that they must have significance. But what is it? Throughout I Hear Your Voice, the question of justice and what it means has been explored thanks to its numerous cases. We’ve seen the law be exploited, misused and sometimes get it right. So: what exactly is going on with this case in particular? Do Yeon’s father is obviously standing in for the stern, rigidity of the Korean justice system – it is cruel, unbending and not fair. Hwang Dal Joong’s trial allows for the idea of forgiveness to be brought about. When the courts have been proven to be wrong, what exactly does that mean? Dal Joong seeks only an apology from the judge who sentenced him, but it’s clear he isn’t going to get one. The old bureaucracy of the Korean justice system isn’t ready to admit its faults; they’re far too ensconced in its privilege and power to care about it anymore. However, the young people coming up the system are still struggling with those questions every day, and they’re more conscious of the injustices that keep being carried out. When Do Yeon apologizes to Dal Joong in behalf of her father, it is an acknowledgement on her part that the people in charge are wrong, and that the system is flawed (think of her prosecution partner and how he keeps pushing for a guilty verdict – a future judge himself no doubt).
Sure, while all that stuff is interesting to think about, it doesn’t matter if the main thrust of the drama isn’t compelling, which it is. Do Yeon has been a nothing character for most of the series’ run so it’s nice to see her to do something. It seems to me that all series she’s been stuck at her stuffy house, not having any sort of internal life, just “being there.” Has she just been watering the lawn for the last 14 episodes? Does she have no romantic interests of her own? Is she just here to illustrate some thematic purpose? Only in these episodes did her façade break and did we actually encounter an actual character. Her restroom breakdown has to be amongst the series’ best moments and its maybe because of how reclusive she’s been emotionally as a character throughout that it hits more powerfully.
Quick Observations
- I wish they’d given Choi Sung Joon more to do. Although, admittedly, he was pretty funny.
- Glad we finally got to know why Cha Kwan Woo became a public defender.
- Shing Sang Duk is hugging a lot these days!
More I HEAR YOUR VOICE Drama Club!
Episodes 15-16: [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ]
Episodes 13-14: [ Part 1] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ]
Episodes 11-12: [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ]
Episodes 9-10: [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ]
Episodes 7-8: [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ]
Episodes 5-6: [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ]
Episodes 3-4: [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ]
Episodes 1-2: [ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ] [ Part 3 ] [ Part 4 ]